BRITISH MOBE MAKER Wileyfox will offer punters heavily-discounted handsets in exchange for their eyeballs on lockscreen adverts.

In a similar proposition to that offered by Amazon on its Kindle and Fire tablets, Wileyfox announced on Wednesday that customers can bag themselves discounts of up to 43 per cent if they opt to receive offers and adverts on their handset’s lockscreen.

The firm’s ‘Add-X’ platform will show ‘exclusive’ adverts which are tailored to the user’s age and gender, and Wileyfox claims that through the platform’s proprietary AI and machine-learning technology it will adapt to users’ behaviour and serve “more of the brands and offers they are looking for.

At launch, Wileyfox’s Add-X will include offers from Dominoes, intu and Ministry of Sound.

The firm promises that, if a user opts into Add-X, they will still be able to access notifications, date and time. “Users need simply swipe right to unlock their phone as normal and swipe left to see more,” it says.

Wileyfox’s entry-level phone, the Spark Plus, drops from £119 to just £69 with Add-X, while the £189 Wileyfox Swift 2 Plus reduces by £70 to just £119. These are available to buy from Amazon UK, Carphone Warehouse, eBay and ao.com.

Michael Coombes, CEO of Wileyfox said: “At Wileyfox we’re committed to shaking up the competition again, to give our customers the best smartphone for their budget.

“And with Add-X we’re smashing expectations at an even higher level reducing the costs across our range upfront, while also giving the consumer even more ways to be ‘wiley’.”

The launch of Add-X comes as Wileyfox’s long-awaited Windows Phone device, the, er, ‘Wileyfox Pro with Windows 10’ has been delayed yet again. The handset was announced in August with a promised release date of 4 December, but that has since slipped to 18 December over on Amazon. µ